Close to Home
by Cruentus Caelum
Summary: There's nothing about this new case that comes as a surprise to Calleigh, until a baby is found, hidden on the scene. A woman's natural mother instinct might take over, and a certain someone might just see a side of Calleigh they've never seen before.
1. Notch Above the Ordinary

**Well, for starters, I don't own CSI: Miami, or any of its lovely characters. Not even Horatio or Ryan, who I really wish I did own. XD I have a mortal fear of lawyers, so do not come forth with lawsuits against me. Flames, for whatever reason you have to give them, will be used to fuel a campfire for sing-alongs and marshmallow fun. **

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_She had known she wasn't going to get out of this alive. He meant business. Too bad common sense evidently hadn't shown him any mercy throughout the past six months. He hadn't had any before they'd broken up, but Anita had never thought he would be driven to kill over a break-up._

_Admittedly, she had given his life quite a shake. He had always been the perfect son, a little angel to friends of the family. Deep down, he'd been as insecure as insecure could get, and Anita, his girlfriend of a year at least, could only take so much. Enough had been enough, especially after the ass firmly denied having anything to do with the baby she was carrying._

_It was his. It was definitely his, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. So when she came to him asking for a DNA test, not only did he know that complying would be his ruination, he knew that refusing in front of his parents would rouse suspicion._

_Needless to say, Anita and her baby were the cause of some unwanted changes and a burst bubble in her ex's life recently. But this… This was completely over the edge._

_But it was too late to stop him now. When he had stormed in, screaming obscenities and accusations at her, Anita had put her child first, hiding the infant in a panic to protect the little girl over herself. Trying to talk him out of it was useless. The man was mentally unstable, even if Anita was the only one who really seemed to ever have noticed it, and he couldn't be persuaded to turn back now. As far as he was concerned, she was the one who had ruined everything for him, and now, he would ruin everything for her in one simple step – a simple step involving a gun._

_As she lay there on the kitchen floor, bleeding profusely from multiple gunshot wounds on her body, Anita could only pray that he wouldn't hurt the baby. The young mother could hear the crying, faintly, as the life drained from her as fast as the blood._

* * *

­­This was a typical murder scene, at first. Calleigh had claimed the kitchen, going over it from top to bottom for clues, snapping pictures like there was no tomorrow. Evidence of a baby was nowhere to be seen – or maybe she was focusing too hard on the task at hand. Gather evidence, analyze the crime scene, solve a murder. Nothing out of the ordinary for a CSI at Miami Dade. The hi-tech camera was aimed at a small scratch in the wooden paneling on the sides of a counter, when her work was interrupted. 

"Hey, uh, Calleigh?" The voice was Wolfe's, the woman knew, and she also knew that he wouldn't be offended if she continued to do her job while conversing with him.

"Hm?" It wasn't a question, per say, but it gave the message that she was listening, at least. Ryan was silent for a few seconds. As it was for Calleigh, murder scenes were nothing new for Ryan, but finding a baby stashed under a pile of blankets and pillows… well, _that_ was.

"There's something you ought to see."

"Can it wait?"

The distinct sound of a baby whimpering, warning everyone within earshot that actual crying couldn't be too far behind, gave Calleigh her answer before her coworker got a chance to. Calleigh had never really thought of herself as a motherly person, let alone good with kids, but within seconds she had the camera set down out of harm's way, and had stood up (to get a better shot, she had been kneeling). It was certainly odd to see Wolfe stand there, grasping the handle of one of those baby carriers (she was so baby-ignorant that she didn't even know just what exactly those were called). The fact that nobody had been aware of a child in the area up til now was also fairly strange. But when Calleigh laid eyes on the tiny, squirming ball of human among the cushion and blanket that made up her seat, there was no possible way for the CSI to ignore the motherly instinct deep inside (maybe it came with being a woman) that began to stir.

"Would you mind taking this over?" she asked. Her emerald green eyes remained on the child, who was still whimpering quietly but was fairly content to gnaw on a soft, chewy ring. Ryan didn't wait for Calleigh to explain why. Who would be the better person to watch over the tyke: Ryan, a young male, or Calleigh, a sensible woman? The answer was obvious, and he was only too happy to oblige and surrender the infant.

"Sure thing," he said, though it had no point. Calleigh hardly heard him, too focused on the child to pay attention.

This case was now a notch above the ordinary murder.


	2. Harder Than it Seems

Perhaps bringing the infant with her wasn't such a good idea, after all. People she passed in the hallways on her way to her lab were curious, and for good reason. It wasn't exactly normal to see Calleigh carrying a baby around, especially at such a work environment.

Calleigh made a mental vow to punch the next person to ask whom she was babysitting for.

The infant seemed to be enjoying the change of scene, however, despite not having many comforts. If there at all, the child's diaper bag had been cleverly hidden at the crime scene, just like the baby. She would have to go without whatever her mother had stashed in there, until Calleigh – or anyone, really – got around to supplying a new one. This development didn't seem to really phase her, though. She seemed content how she was, chewing happily on her teething ring (light blue and speckled with small penguin characters) and babbling incomprehensibly. Typical baby behavior that even Calleigh couldn't help but crack a smile towards.

Once she reached the lab, however… the smile faltered. How in the world was she going to keep a _baby_ in the _ballistics lab_?

Maybe somebody else would be willing to watch her – but who? The first person Calleigh thought of was Alexx, but the coroner's work area wasn't exactly any more baby-friendly than Calleigh's. Ryan? No, he would be even more clueless than she was. Eric might do all right with her – heck, maybe even Horatio would take her. Thinking of him – the head honcho, as it were – made her realize a new challenge: how would she tell Horatio 'oh, yeah, Wolfe found a baby at the crime scene so I brought her with me!'?

Yeah, this definitely wasn't such a good idea as originally thought.

The lab was empty, to Calleigh's relief. She had a little more time to try to figure out how to explain the situation, which was good. The handle of the baby carrier was still on her arm as she walked to the table farthest from the door, and set the plastic seat down. The questions began to stir in her mind again while her eyes focused on the tiny human before her. What was her name? Had her life so far always been this hectic? Was that her mother who had been murdered? Come to think of it, the woman hadn't been identified yet, and this _was_ part of the CSI lab… If the baby was related to the victim, Calleigh could get answers to.

"Hi there," Miss Duquesne murmured to the little one, with a smile. On the way back, the baby had slept, so this was the first time Calleigh actually spoke to her. At the sound of the woman's voice, the child finally looked away from that precious chewy, blue eyes locking onto Calleigh's face – and she broke into a big, toothless grin, that only a baby could produce.

Calleigh Duquesne, for some reason, was absolutely thrilled.

* * *

Something was missing at this crime scene. It wasn't necessarily any evidence or typical crime scene characteristics… It was a person. The shades he always wore were removed as he turned toward a fellow officer, Ryan Wolfe. It hadn't gone unnoticed that Ryan seemed to be doing double-duty.

"Mr. Wolfe, where is Calleigh?"

Ryan was a bit startled to hear the voice. He'd never realized how much stuff Calleigh's camera could do, and he was having fun with it – while sticking to the task at hand, of course. He couldn't help cracking a small smile as he shook his head slightly.

"You never miss a beat, do you, Horatio?" Horatio smiled just slightly, like always, and shrugged his shoulders. "Went back to the lab." The younger man swallowed a bit as he wondered how to explain the reason.

Horatio lived up to Wolfe's comment. It was too soon for Calleigh to have any tests to run, and most tests could certainly wait. Whatever had compelled her to leave the crime scene early had to be fairly important – not only to her, but to Wolfe, for him to have agreed with her.

"We found a baby underneath some blankets. Calleigh took her with her," Ryan explained. Hopefully it was okay for her to have done so; by agreeing to take over her part of the investigation, for now, he hadn't meant to put her job in any sort of jeopardy. Then again, would Calleigh have chosen to do so if it could've resulted in such? Probably not.

Horatio was quiet for a few seconds – thinking. There were plenty of people around who could've kept an eye on the child. Why had the discovery of a baby caused Calleigh Duquesne, of all women, to leave?… Because the scene of a murder was inappropriate for a child, and she knew that.

"Hold down the fort here. You're doing a good job so far." The sunglasses took their place once more, as Horatio walked out of the building and back to the hummer. Calleigh, evidently, hadn't been the only thing missing from the scene.

* * *

Babies weren't too difficult to take care of, until they started crying. Calleigh was learning that a little too late. To make matters worse, she really didn't have a clue what to do. Was she hungry? Was she bored? Did she need a diaper change? Did she want something else entirely? Ugh…

"Shh, shh," Calleigh murmured to her, as she patted and rubbed her back and ignored the tiny fists beating on her shoulder, and the wet spots forming on her shirt where the baby's tears – _real _tears, which made Calleigh feel terrible – landed. "Shhhh…"

Had she been this difficult as an infant? Calleigh certainly hoped not. If she had, then she certainly felt for her mother, right about now. But if she _had_ been such a cantankerous baby, Calleigh wondered just what her own mother would've done to calm her down – and thought over the situation, to try to determine just what the little girl needed. It was hard to say how long she had been incognito under the blankets. Had she done her business, then? A quick sniff, and no, that wasn't it. Was she tired? Probably not. Calleigh remembered Wolfe saying something about her being asleep when the blankets were rudely tossed aside, not to mention how she'd slept on the ride to the lab. Hungry? That seemed like the most probable cause of all this fussing. But, alas… Calleigh had no bottles, let alone any formula or milk, or plain baby food.

"It's all right, shh shhh," the woman murmured once more, and walked to her phone. She pressed the button that would call up Natalia – her first thought was Alexx, but she was more than likely busy with the latest body. As far as Calleigh knew, Natalia wouldn't be too busy, and could hopefully help her out.

"Natalia? I need a favor…"


End file.
